Waste Management

In 2016, the Government of India (GOI) launched a policy for city waste management. The plan was simple yet innovative − to convert the organic kitchen waste into manure for farmers. However, four years later, the project seems to be falling out of place with little progress. India tops the world chart for producing the maximum waste. Every day, 1.3 billion people produce about 150,000 (1.5 lakh) tonnes of solid waste. With 25% of global food production, India is the largest food producer in the world and consumes about 27% of agricultural produce.  Reports suggest that developing countries like India produce more wet and organic waste.…

In 2019, the Indore Municipal Corporation became the first Indian city to clear around 15 lakh tonnes of historic waste at landfills using a process called bioremediation. With overflowing landfills and the difficulty of finding new waste disposal sites, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the country now look at the Indore project as an example worth emulating to clear out waste dumps at landfills. Cities like Bijapur, Davanagere, Doddaballapur, and most recently, Hassan and Gokak have already invited Expressions of Interest or tenders for conducting bioremediation. While this may result in reclaiming some land from waste disposal sites, several challenges…

“We have been in the business of dry waste management for years but nobody gives us a salary or respects us,” says Nayan Mohammad, a local waste picker in Velachery. Time and again, local waste pickers have been denied recognition for the vital work they do. They lack any kind of safety net and continue to operate informally on the fringes of waste management and are not given an opportunity to step into the formal fold.  This time too, with the Indo-Spanish partnership ‘Urbaser-Sumeet’ bagging the waste management contract with Greater Chennai Corporation, waste pickers in many parts of the…

Sea Breeze CHS Ltd is one of the oldest and largest societies along the iconic Palm Beach Road, in Sector 16, Nerul. The Society comprises of 10 towers with 28 flats in each, making it a total of 280 flats, with about 1000 residents. (Pic: Sea Breeze CHS) In 2017, when the Swacch Bharat Misson began, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) mandated all housing societies with more than 200 flats to do complete segregation of waste at source - into wet and dry waste, and total in-house wet waste management. The Managing Committee (MC) of the society decided to go full…

Sithalapakkam, located in south Chennai, is an uncharted suburb for many. People often confuse it with Chitlapakkam near Chrompet, and it takes a long explanation to clarify the difference, so that residents just find it easier to say they are from Medavakkam, a prominent and relatively better known locality close to Sithalapakkam! With several lakes, abandoned quarries and vast areas of arable land, Sithalapakkam looks less like an urban neighbourhood and more like the countryside. But its close proximity to the city and affordable land market are the primary factors that encouraged many middle-class citizens to make this neighbourhood their home. …

Translated by Sandhya Raju நீங்கள் தூக்கி எறியும் வெங்காய தோலோ அல்லது பிளாஸ்டிக் துண்டோ எங்கே செல்கிறது என சிந்தித்ததுண்டா? நாம் தூக்கி எறியும் ஒவ்வொரு குப்பைக்கும் நாம் கண்டிராத நீண்ட பயணம் உண்டு. இந்த பயணத்தை அறிந்து கொண்டால், நாம் ஒவ்வொருவரும் கழிவு மேலாண்மைக்கு மேலும் சீரிய பங்காற்ற முடியும். தினந்தோறும் 5600 டன் குப்பையை சென்னை காண்கிறது. இந்த குப்பையின் கதையை அறிய, சென்னை மாநகராட்சி செயல்படுத்தும் திடக்கழிவு மேலாண்மையை பற்றி பார்ப்போம். கழிவுப்பொருட்களை மக்கும், மக்காத, அபாயகரமான கழிவுகள் மற்றும் கட்டுமான மற்றும் இடிபாடு கழிவுகள் என நான்கு பிரிவுகளாகப் பிரிக்க திடக்கழிவு துணை சட்டம் கூறுகிறது. படம்: CAG குப்பைகளை (மக்கும் அல்லது ஈர குப்பைகளுக்கு பச்சை தொட்டி, மக்காத குப்பைக்கு நீல தொட்டி, மருத்துவ கழிவுகளுக்கு சிவப்பு தொட்டி) வகை பிரித்து அப்புறப்படுத்தும் பொறுப்பான குடிமகன்/ள் நீங்கள் என்றால், அதன் பயணத்தில் சற்று…

Garbage generated in Bengaluru’s markets big and small can be a star, according to  VEDAN, an NGO working on creating awareness among people on waste management issues. Named G-Star, the suggested model, which came out of Vedan’s study of K R Puram market, brings together people who produce waste and those who can make productive use of it. The G-star model can reduce the mixed waste that goes to landfills. This waste can be distributed to all stakeholders in a desired form by collecting it directly from vendors at the market as and when it is produced. The K R…

Ever wondered what happens to the onion peels or pieces of plastic that you throw casually in the dustbin? Every bit of waste that we generate has a long journey, that often goes unnoticed. It goes through a lot of procedures and undergoes various transitions. Understanding the journey of waste helps citizens contribute more to the cause of waste management.  Chennai generates 5600 tonnes of waste every day. Let's take a look at the various measures being implemented by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Solid Waste Management (SWM) to present the story of trash.  The SWM bye-law mandates source…

We are slaves of habit. We find comfort in predictability because that gives us a sense of assurance. A schedule that goes like clockwork is actually very comforting. That’s the beauty and the bane of it. Before mid-March 2020, my husband and I kept to a schedule that we'd been following for the last 18 years. And then, Covid arrived in all our lives! With lockdown and 100% work-from-home, the schedule was suddenly gone. Our lives got filled with a long unending list of chores, to be done along with our office work. Things that our maid and cook efficiently…

The inauguration of Chennai's first incinerator in February by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) at Manali has paved the way for many more in and around the city. The civic body has, in quick succession to Manali, floated tenders to set up six more incinerators at Pallikaranai, Mylapore, Ambattur, Sathankadu, Kodungaiyur and Aynavaram zones.  In the suburbs, the Tambaram Municipality has floated tenders for two incinerators at Venkatamangalam, while Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat has floated for one in that area. The rationale behind setting up incinerators First things first; what is an incinerator and why is it used? To put simply,…